Mario Kart Double Dash for the Nintendo Gamecube has always been a favorite to play among my siblings and me. I vividly recall the hours spent driving around the twists and turns of Wario Collesium, the seaside fun of Peach Beach and Daisy's Cruiser, along with the classic Rainbow Road. I remember the times we'd play in battle mode-- I'd usually be the first to lose because, as the youngest sibling, I didn't know how to play, but despite the disadvantage, the amount of fun I had was always what made it special. The fun increased when other family members would come over. I remember securing my first win in Double Dash as if it had happened yesterday. It was the last stage of the Flower Cup- and things were heating up during Waluigi's Stadium. I was playing against my older brother, and the competition was stiff. The last thing I wanted was for him or any of the computer racers to win, so my 7-year-old self tried my best to pull in all the stops my small self could handle. I tried to use my items at the right time, avoid bananas and fake item boxes, and tried to make sure no one else was in my way. That win needed to be mine. All that hard work paid off... when I earned my rightful 2nd place trophy while my brother had gotten 5th. Despite not getting the gold, the memory is still memorable for me as it reminds me of the hours of fun I had playing Mario Kart with my siblings and how valuable the time we spent together was. Now that we're adults, we have significantly less time to spend with one another, so the memories I have of the Mario Kart days are even more special in my heart.

My current student loan debt totals $13,500 and will increase once I begin my graduate school studies this fall. My plan to address this current student debt and prevent future debt is to think ahead when it comes to the financial decisions I'll be making in graduate school. I plan to do this in a multitude of ways, such as applying for scholarships, working full-time and during weekends, and utilizing side gigs to put towards my debt. Applying for scholarships is the best line of defense in my arsenal to tackle my current student debt. As I begin my graduate studies in the fall, I already have one small scholarship from my school's program to handle my first semester, but I know that applying for additional scholarships will keep these costs down. So far, I have applied to around 57 scholarships but have not had any luck in winning a single one yet. Despite this setback, I'm continuing to apply to any scholarships I see in hopes that I win even one. My motto has always been "It just takes one yes" when it comes to seeking out opportunities for myself, and am confident that I will hear that yes one day when it comes to applying for scholarships. Another way I have been working to handle my current debt has been through the temporary apprenticeship I have as a College Access Advisor. Through this job, I make about $2,000 a month over a ten-month period where I've helped students apply to college and fill out their financial aid paperwork. Whenever payday would roll around, I would make an effort to put at least 10 or 20 dollars toward paying off my student loans in my savings account. I'm hoping that by moving to New York City for graduate school, I'll have the opportunity to seek out a higher-paying job that will allow me to put more toward my loans. The last method I've been using to handle my student debt has been selling things I own through buying and selling apps such as Mercari. Since I've lived in the same house my entire life, I've accumulated a lot of clothing and knick-knacks over the years. One thing I have a lot of are pieces of clothing, which has come in handy when looking to make some extra cash to put towards my student loans. Through selling things such as books, clothing, and old figures, I've made about $300 since I opened my account 2 years ago. Whether the methods are big or small, I'm determined to continuously find new and innovative ways to tackle my student loan debt to have a debt-free future. I am confident that if I continue to find ways of handling my debt through scholarships, work, or side gigs, this dream will inch closer to reality every day.

Many tend to overlook the power of $1,000, but it can have a significant impact on a student's future aspirations. Receiving the Morgan Levine Dolan Community Service Scholarship would help open doors to pursuing goals that I've spent countless nights dreaming about. As an incoming graduate student, this amount covers a multitude of things that will ease financial stressors in other aspects of my life, such as trying to save on various necessities like housing, food, medicine, and transportation. I am determined to pursue a career in literary translation, as I am passionate about bridging cultural and linguistic gaps across the globe. This scholarship would be instrumental in helping me achieve my aspirations. In my line of work, I need access to various resources such as language courses, exam materials, and literature, which can be costly to get. With the support of this scholarship, I am confident that I can secure these resources and work towards my goals with greater ease. It would also bring me closer to one of my biggest future career goals-- getting to live, study, and work in Japan. This scholarship would generously aid in achieving my future goal of working in Japan. Getting to study and work in Japan has been my lifelong dream since I was 8, and this opportunity would be essential in making my dream a reality. As I reiterated earlier in this essay, $1,000 truly goes a long way in aiding my future career goals. This amount would cover a round-trip ticket to Japan, which would save money on other expenses such as lodging and transportation. The funds would also help in a variety of ways in supporting my goals to work in Japan. Ways of support include buying the books of authors I want to translate, the cost of literary translation events that assist emerging translators with networking, and industry advice. As a low-income translator of color, these opportunities tend to be difficult to pursue due to financial constraints. In closing, I can confidently say that the Morgan Levine Dolan Community Service Scholarship will benefit me significantly. No matter how I choose to use the scholarship funds, I know that it will only advance my professional future. Whether it is language materials to grow my Japanese language skills or for a round-trip ticket to study and experience the language and culture in person, winning this scholarship will do wonders in helping me pursue my future career goals.

To me, generational wealth means laying the foundation for financial stability and comfort extending to future generations. It involves developing a long-term strategy to ensure that I am not only securing my financial future but also that of those who come after me. As the child of immigrants, generational wealth is significant to me. My parents arrived in this country from Ghana with only the clothes on their backs, but they were able to establish a life for themselves. I aspire to continue this legacy of financial stability and values for my future family. However, the lack of current generational wealth can make it feel like I am constantly starting from scratch when mapping out my financial future. I am determined to plan ahead and confidently plant the seeds for generational wealth. I have various strategies in mind to achieve this goal. One strategy I have to achieve this goal is establishing a sturdy budget through the 50/30/20 budgeting system. This system is described as follows: 50 percent of one's paycheck goes towards necessities, 30 percent goes towards personal wants, and 20 percent heads towards one's saving account. This strategy has been essential in mapping out my financial goals and envisioning what I want for myself in the future. I strive to work and live abroad in the future, so saving piece by piece with each biweekly paycheck allows this goal to become more possible. With long-term financial goals, I plan to achieve generational wealth through a Roth IRA. A Roth IRA will allow me to invest in my retirement by putting in a set amount of money monthly and watching the wealth grow through compounding interest. In closing, my overall goal is to secure generational wealth for myself and my future family. I am fully committed to educating myself on personal finance and learning from those who have gone before me. I am acutely aware of the importance of utilizing all available resources to build financial stability, and I am not afraid to take the necessary and bold steps to achieve this goal. Receiving this scholarship would be a huge weight off my shoulders, freeing me up to focus on planning for my future and reducing my student loan debt. As a proud member of Gen-Z, I am confident that with the financial education and skills I acquire along the way, I will be able to achieve my dream of pursuing a career in translation and living a comfortable life abroad.

The dream version of my future self is a trailblazer and a world traveler, gathering literature and knowledge of the countries she visits, finding comfort in a community in each place she sees, whether it is a kind elder cooking local delicacies, or a youth seeking knowledge, I know my future self will have a community across the globe no matter where she decides to go.

Connecting linguistic and cultural bridges through language has been critical to me since high school. Such a passion has led me to the world of literary translation, where I aim to pursue my graduate studies at CUNY Queens College. I will be getting my MFA in Creative Writing and Literary Translation, entering a field where I strive to be a trailblazer in my own right. Within my community, I am a College Access Advisor for Public Allies and serve grades 11-12 in navigating the college process, and am also in the process of training to be a Crisis Text Line Volunteer as well. I have already trailblazed as an undergraduate, where I was selected for the coveted Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship and studied in Seoul, South Korea back in 2021. My beginnings as a literary translator also began as an undergraduate, when I published two translations in our school's literary magazine, "Long River Review". This journey continues as I have another translation pending publication this month. Despite my undergraduate successes, student loan debt has continued to saddle me with bouts of fear and confusion for the future. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic leaving me home for nearly two years, and numerous grants and scholarships, I am still saddled with roughly $13,500 of student loan debt, only to increase further as I enter graduate school. With this scholarship, my opportunities would be endless with what I could save through paying my loans. I would be able to cover debts and support my family by paying various bills around the house. It would also allow me to save for important things in the scope of health and wellness, as the scholarship would help ease the cost of medicine I take for my ADHD, something I've had to cease taking due to the rising costs. The money I'd save would also help me tremendously in the scope of my career. As a translator who translates from Japanese to English, I would be able to save money to travel to Japan and engage with the Japanese literary scene head-on. I would be able to participate in various career-building events and workshops that have initially been difficult to access as a low-income first-generation student. The field of literary translation has been predominantly white for decades, especially for white males. As a black female translator, this would open many doors for me. The scholarship would allow me to invest in materials that can allow me to further grow as a translator, whether it is easing the cost of classes each semester or for assistance in language exams for language certification. An opportunity like this can open additional accessibility onto the path of success I continue to walk on.

A pristine environment, an unbothered mood, and a full but satisfying schedule. This is what living the life of my dreams entails. It means getting to travel the world and build my global citizenship while being able to do so. Whether it's a few weeks in Seoul or a couple of days in Kyoto, the life of my dreams is about traveling the world while having my safe home base back home. Being a global citizen has always been integral when envisioning myself living the life of my dreams, as I've never quite considered myself as one to settle down in one concrete area as I grow older. I imagine myself sort of like an artist-- creating works in every place I dream to visit or stay in, and having my impact remain in the experiences and people I meet in every country I hope to visit. Living the life of my dreams includes having the community of my dreams as well. It entails the 15-minute city model, where everything from work, groceries, and community is a 15-minute commute from your own home. Just thinking about this in such a car-centric world strengthens my drive to achieve the dreams I'm seeking in this world. Convenience and closeness are key aspects of what I envision when living the life of my dreams and living in a place where walkability and public transport are a priority is the dream life I envision for myself. Whether it's being able to take a bus close to where a live, having bike lanes that are accessible to navigate, or a rail system with stations close to my place of residence, walkability is a key component when imagining the life of my dreams. The life of my dreams specifically centers around hoping to live in Japan for an extended period. As someone heading to graduate school for literary translation, getting to live in the country whose language I've been studying and enthralled with since I was a child is what I envision for myself. It looks like getting to take the bustling Tokyo subways around the city, eat replenishing fresh Japanese food, and getting to connect with the local authors and literary scene around me. With regards to the literary scene, it also means building a strong rapport with authors to flourish as a literary translator, which all circles back to having a strong community that I imagine when I think about living the life of my dreams.

I am someone who is enamored with the languages and cultures of the world around us. Language has always captivated me. As it has always surrounded aspects of my life, I have always been curious and hungry to learn more about it and its capabilities. Whether it was crafting stories in my spiral notebooks in elementary school, or pursuing education at an art school for 6th grade to learn Mandarin and Spanish, I've always seen language and writing as windows to the world. Languages are how I hope to make an impact in the world as I pursue an MFA in Literary Translation this fall. Throughout high school, my love for languages continued, but it was also when I was introduced to the world of literary translation through comics. I would seek out the Japanese originals of comics to their English counterparts, and make note of their differences from the limited Japanese I had known. This interest fully blossomed as an undergraduate, where I majored in both Linguistics and Philosophy. My education through both disciplines was rewarding, as I was able to learn the philosophies behind the language we use, and its importance to ourselves and the world around us. Even with this combination of disciplines, I wanted to make an impact with the knowledge I had of the Japanese language. This all changed during my sophomore year, as a professor introduced me to the Literary Translation minor that our school offered. I knew with that minor, I wanted to impact the world through the translations I'd make. What interests me about STEAM, specifically in terms of the arts, are the endless possibilities one can create with the inclusion of art into the other letters of the acronym. For example, combining engineering and art crafts Architects, and combinations of art and science yield Medical Illustrators. There is an endless path of careers possible within STEAM, and I am proud to further delve into the world of literary translation through it. Through my graduate school education, I hope to further grow as a literary translator and expand my breadth of translated materials and works by a variety of authors. Despite having 3 published poems in literary magazines, the biggest impact I hope to make through my education is to publish a book-length translation. With a book-length translation, I can connect linguistic bridges across the world, and share the literature of others with wider audiences. Sharing language and culture has always been essential to who I am, which was why I also decided to study abroad in South Korea in 2021. Despite the country being my second choice destination, I ended up garnering a deep appreciation for the language, culture, and traditions that have thrived amongst the Korean population for centuries. During my time abroad, I was able to visit cultural villages, historic museums, and local staples. Just as I made an impact with my time and travels in Korea, I hope to make a further impact on literature and language in the scope of other East Asian languages and cultures and am confident that my MFA education will put me on that path.